Mark 13:1-37
When we speak of focus, we do not mean some clever trick that makes a thing appear wonderful in the eyes of onlookers. We mean the direction in which our gaze is turned and the object on which our attention is fixed.
We are already in the third millennium. The future is upon us. When Jesus was on this earth, He spoke a great deal about it. The sad thing is that, both then and now, most people pay no attention to what He says. The focus of humanity, then as today, is on the unimportant things, on the spicy details, on our own achievements in the fields of science and technology. The focus of Christ, however, is not on what man has made, but on what God will do and on our readiness for it.
THE HUMAN FOCUS (Mark 13:1)
1 As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!” (Mark 13:1)
It was not that Jesus had never seen them. The Lord knew the temple very well. The action in this thirteenth chapter of Mark’s Gospel unfolds during Passion Week — after Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem and before His crucifixion. Jesus had already come to the temple several times. As a child He had been blessed in this temple by the devout Simeon. At twelve years of age He had called it “my Father’s house” (Luke 2:49). During this final week, after entering Jerusalem as king, He had looked around at everything (Mark 11:11). The next day He had cleansed it, openly resisting the abuses within it (Mark 11:15). On the third day He had answered the questions about His authority (Mark 11:27). He had taught in it (Mark 12:35). And now He was leaving it forever (Mark 13:1). He surely seemed troubled by the hardness of people’s hearts. To cheer Him and distract Him, one of His disciples (perhaps Peter) drew His attention to the beauty and elegance of the buildings of the temple complex (Mark 13:1):
Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings! (Mark 13:1)
Perhaps this disciple spoke these words with good intentions, but the sentence reveals the true nature of man and the direction in which he looks. Both then and now, people’s attention is fixed on their own achievements. We take pride in our discoveries, in our technological abilities. This, however, is a wrong focus, a wrong direction of attention, because by looking only at the creation, man fails to see the Creator.
If there was anything difficult for Jesus, it was to make His disciples open their spiritual eyes and see the more important spiritual realities. The problem, however — then and now — is that we prefer to see and hear only what we ourselves want to see and hear — even when God is trying to reveal His very Self to us.
THE FOLLY OF THE HUMAN FOCUS (Mark 13:2)
In His answer to the invitation to admire the beauties of the temple, Jesus noted the vanity of human craftsmanship and the folly of having our attention fixed upon it.
2 “Do you see all these great buildings?” replied Jesus. “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” (Mark 13:2)
In other words He told him: “This whole marvel of architecture and engineering that you so admire will soon crumble and vanish!”
This statement must have shocked His disciples. The building of this temple had required 80 years of work — skilled artistry and back-breaking labor. It had been begun by Herod the Great in 18 B.C. and was completed only in A.D. 65. The whole temple complex had not even been finally finished; it was still under construction when Jesus held this conversation with His disciples.
The Lord makes them understand that what they admire, what man has achieved, will simply crumble and be destroyed within their own lifetime. The temple, whose construction had taken more than 80 years, would be leveled to the ground in less than a month! And indeed, in A.D. 70, when the Roman legions under the command of General Titus attacked Jerusalem, this prophecy was fulfilled — the temple was totally destroyed, without even a “stone left on another” that was not thrown down. And this happened only five years after its final completion! The Roman soldiers had heard rumors that the Jews had hidden gold between the blocks of the temple, so in their search for it they tore the temple down to its foundations. The prophecy was fulfilled only 40 years after Jesus had spoken it!
In this lies human folly. Instead of boasting in the God who is in the temple, people boasted in the temple they had made for Him. But such boasting is vain!
A BETTER FOCUS (Mark 13:3-4)
Struck by Jesus’ answer, the disciples begin to redirect their attention and to ask more important and substantial questions — questions about the future and about what God has yet to do in it.
3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked him privately, 4 “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?” (Mark 13:3-4)
On the one hand, the disciples’ question referred to the collapse of the temple that Jesus was speaking about, but on the other hand its undertone seemed to reach to the coming of Christ as well. We understand this, first, from Jesus’ answer to their question, and second, from the way the other evangelists relay the disciples’ question. The evangelist Matthew, for instance, relays the same situation in this way (Matt. 24:3):
3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3)
Here we see that there is a movement from the question about the collapse of the temple to the question about the coming of Christ and the end of the world. Evidently the collapse of the temple is a symbol of the end of all things.
Jesus answers the disciples’ questions in reverse order. First He addresses the question of the sign of His coming and of the end of the age (because, on God’s calendar, that is precisely what is about to be fulfilled), and then He answers the question of the time as well — when this will be.
THE BEGINNING OF SUFFERINGS (Mark 13:5-8)
In His answer about the sign of His coming, Jesus first dwells on events that are not signs — such as wars, earthquakes, famine, and persecutions (vv. 5-13). He calls them “the beginning of birth pains”:
5 Jesus said to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 6 Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many. 7 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 8 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains. (Mark 13:5-8)
Right now we are living precisely in this period, and God’s will for us is that we “not be alarmed” by the injustices and tragedies that happen around us.
THE SIGN (Mark 13:14-16)
After this Jesus moves on to the sign itself. It is “the abomination that causes desolation.”
14 “When you see ‘the abomination that causes desolation’ [of which the prophet Daniel spoke] standing where it does not belong — let the reader understand — then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 15 Let no one on the housetop go down or enter the house to take anything out. 16 Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. (Mark 13:14-16)
In Matthew 24:15 Jesus states quite plainly that the expression “the abomination that causes desolation” is taken from the book of the prophet Daniel (Daniel 9:27; 11:31; 12:11). This prophecy was partially fulfilled in the time of the Maccabees, when in 168 B.C. Antiochus Epiphanes defiled the temple by erecting an altar to Zeus on the place of God’s altar and offering a pig on it as a sacrifice. Antiochus Epiphanes is the “little horn” of Daniel chapter 8, as distinct from the Antichrist, who is the “little horn” of Daniel chapter 7.
The prophecy was also partially fulfilled during the Jewish War (A.D. 67), which ended with the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.
“Abomination” is the defiling of the temple, and “desolation” is the result of that defiling. Such a “desolation,” in which the Glory of God departs from the temple, is described in the book of the prophet Ezekiel 8:1–11:25. In our passage, however, this abomination is not only an act, but a person who embodies everything opposed to God. What greater abomination than the Antichrist? And what more unfitting place for him than the temple of God? Jesus’ repetition of this prophecy of Daniel is testimony that up to His time it had not been fulfilled in its fullness. It will be fulfilled in the time of the Antichrist. From 2 Thessalonians and from the Revelation of John we understand that the coming of Christ will be preceded by the reign of the Antichrist. In 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5 this is said quite clearly:
1 Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, 2 not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us — whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter — asserting that the day of the Lord has already come. (2 Thessalonians 2:1-2)
Last year I made a special study of this chapter, as well as of 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. I came to understand then that the New Testament uses four terms to denote the coming of Christ:
1. “Parousia” — coming;
2. “Hemera” — day (the Day of the Lord);
3. “Epiphaneia” — appearing;
4. “Apocalypsis” — unveiling (revelation).
In the New Testament all these terms are interchangeable — they refer to one and the same event. The first three of these four terms occur in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. From verses 1 and 2 it appears that “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (parousia) and “our being gathered to him” (episynagoge) will take place when “the day of the Lord” arrives. In other words, all these events are simultaneous, or happen at the same time. They will not happen, however, before the time of “the man of lawlessness,” who is the Antichrist.
3 Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day [“the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him,” v. 1] will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. 4 He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God. 5 Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? (2 Thessalonians 2:3-5)
For some reason the new believers in Thessalonica thought that the Second Coming had already arrived. But according to the apostle Paul it will not come before “the man of lawlessness,” or the Antichrist, appears. It is precisely when he begins to manifest himself openly that “the Lord Jesus will overthrow him with the breath of his mouth and destroy him by the splendor of his coming” (2 Thessalonians 2:8).
I am often asked whether Jesus could come today or tomorrow. My answer to this question is that Jesus certainly could come in our generation (just as the apostles expected Him in theirs), but He will not come before the Antichrist is revealed. The appearance of the Antichrist is the sign that the Second Coming is drawing near.
Nevertheless, we must not grow slack. For we can go to be with the Lord in two ways — either by the rapture or through the door of death. And no one can guarantee us that the day of our death will not come this very day or tomorrow… That is why we must always be ready.
THE GREAT TRIBULATION (Mark 13:17-23)
Further on in Jesus’ discourse we read that the time of the Antichrist will be the period of “the great tribulation”:
17 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 18 Pray that this [your flight] will not take place in winter, 19 because those will be days of distress unequaled from the beginning, when God created the world, until now — and never to be equaled again. 20 “If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them. (Mark 13:17-20)
Notice that, according to Jesus, “the elect” will be on this earth during “the great tribulation.” At that time it is precisely they who will be in danger of being deceived.
21 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. 22 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 23 So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time. (Mark 13:21-23)
Jesus closes this passage with the words: “I have told you everything ahead of time.” From them we understand that it is precisely the appearance of the Antichrist and the Great Tribulation that Christ designates as the sign of His Second Coming and of the end of the world, or “the end of the age.”
THE SECOND COMING (Mark 13:24-27)
24 “But in those days, following that distress, “‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; 25 the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’ 26 “At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens. (Mark 13:24-27)
After the year two thousand, preaching the Second Coming seems to have gone out of fashion… But if there is anything clear in the Bible, it is that Jesus will come again to this earth. This time His coming will be in glory and will announce the end of the world. When the Son of Man is seen coming on the clouds with great power and glory, “then” will also be the “rapture of the Church” — His elect will be gathered by the angels in order to “meet the Lord in the air.” The word for “meet” in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 is in Greek “apantesis,” and it is used to describe a situation in which a group of citizens goes out to meet an important person outside the city in order to escort him to his residence within the city. It is used in Matthew 25:6: “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’” (Matthew 25:6); and in Acts 28:14-15: “And so we came to Rome. The brothers and sisters there had heard that we were coming, and they traveled as far as the Forum of Appius and the Three Taverns to meet us” (Acts 28:14-15).
When you go out to meet someone, in which direction do you set off after you have met them — in the direction from which they came, or in the direction from which you came? On the basis of this use of the word “meet,” those who will meet the Lord in the air will afterward escort Him to the earth in order to reign here together with Him. Nothing in this passage suggests that believers will go to heaven. They will simply “be with their Lord forever.”
On the basis of examining these two passages — 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 — I would say that the coming of Christ is one. We have been taught that it is divided into two — once for the church and then for the world — but this teaching arose only in the nineteenth century. On an honest reading of the New Testament text one sees that there are not two comings of Jesus. The coming of Christ is not a series of events, but one event — this is what the early church believed. In other words, the rapture will be at the coming of Christ, after the appearance and rebellion of the Antichrist, and not before it. I do not want to impose my opinion, but it supports the view that the Church will pass through “the Great Tribulation” and will be raptured after it.
THE PARABLE OF THE FIG TREE (Mark 13:28-31)
In the remaining verses of His answer Jesus explains that, just as the leafing of the fig tree makes it possible to predict with certainty the arrival of summer, so by the appearance of the Antichrist and the Great Tribulation one can predict with certainty the coming of Christ in glory.
28 “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 29 Even so, when you see these things happening [Which things? Those of which Jesus has already spoken — “the abomination that causes desolation” and “the great tribulation.”], you know that it is near, right at the door. 30 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. (Mark 13:28-31)
One thing is certain — those believers who live through the reign of the Antichrist and the Great Tribulation will most certainly live to see the coming of Christ as well. They are the ones who will be “raptured” or “gathered” by God’s angels. Christ’s words on this matter are irrevocable.
THE ANSWER ABOUT THE TIME (Mark 13:32)
Having answered the question about the sign of His coming, Jesus now begins to answer the question: “When will this be?” — that is, the question of the time of His coming. To a great extent He has already answered this question, but He nevertheless explicitly notes that the exact time is a secret we will never learn.
32 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. (Mark 13:32)
Jesus’ answer was the same after His resurrection as well. When He was asked by the apostles about the time of the restoration of Israel’s kingdom, He said (Acts 1:7):
It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. (Acts 1:7)
Therefore, we must not allow ourselves to be carried away after people who set specific dates. In Luke 21:8 Jesus expressly stressed that we should not follow those who say that “the time is near”:
Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them. (Luke 21:8)
One thing is certain: this year we are significantly closer to the coming of Christ than in the year when we first believed in God (Romans 13:11):
11 And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. (Romans 13:11)
THE FOCUS OF CHRIST
The remarkable thing about Christ’s prophecy in Mark chapter 13 is that it is directed not so much at the details and particulars surrounding future events as at the readiness of His disciples for these events and for the challenges that await them. Jesus’ focus is on three things: on the danger of deception and persecution, on our own spiritual condition, and on the spread of the gospel.
THE DANGER OF DECEPTION (Mark 13:5-6; 21-23)
5 Jesus said to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 6 Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many. (Mark 13:5-6)
The danger of deception has existed in every age. That is why we must never forget Christ’s words: “Watch out that no one deceives you!” But the deception will be especially great in the time of the Antichrist and the great tribulation:
21 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. 22 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 23 So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time. (Mark 13:21-23)
In 2 Thessalonians 2 the apostle Paul explains that in the time of the Antichrist this deception will be permitted by God as a punishment for human stubbornness and disobedience to the truth:
9 The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, 10 and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness. (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12)
READINESS FOR PERSECUTION (Mark 13:9-13)
Besides warning us of the danger of deception, in His prophecy Jesus makes us reflect on our own spiritual condition. Are we ready to suffer for the gospel?
9 “You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them. (Mark 13:9)
The evangelist Matthew relays these words in Jesus’ discourse to the twelve apostles (Matthew 10:17-22). But Mark connects them to our readiness for the events that are about to be fulfilled. Persecution has always aided the advance of the gospel.
10 And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. 11 Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit. (Mark 13:10-11)
What a wonderful promise. Precisely when we are weakest and most defenseless, precisely then we will experience God’s power and the gifts of the Holy Spirit!
12 “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. 13 Everyone will hate you because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. (Mark 13:12-13)
The apostle Paul says something similar in 2 Timothy 3:12:
12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. (2 Timothy 3:12)
Therefore, we must be ready!
CONSTANT SPIRITUAL WATCHFULNESS (Mark 13:33-37)
Jesus concludes His discourse by underscoring the need for constant spiritual watchfulness:
33 Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. 34 It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch. 35 “Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back — whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. 36 If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. 37 What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’ (Mark 13:33-37)
This is the heart and purpose of every true prophecy. Not so much to inform us of the details of God’s future plans as to prepare us for what is to come in the present.
Some of the things Jesus speaks of in this chapter were fulfilled already in the first century. According to historians, in the year A.D. 70, when the Romans attacked Jerusalem, many Christians managed to flee to safety and be saved thanks to the attention they had paid to Jesus’ warnings in this chapter. The prophecy fulfilled its purpose for them and prepared them for the challenges that life served up to them.
It is also clear that in Jesus’ answer there are things that pertain to a more distant future as well. Even so, the same principle continues to hold today. The purpose of prophecy is to make us awake, watchful, attentive, and prepared. (In the parable of the wise and foolish virgins it says that “the ones who were ready” went in and took part in the wedding banquet, and after them “the door was shut” (Matthew 25:10)!)
WHERE ARE WE LOOKING?
To the past? To our own successes and achievements? To the astonishing possibilities of new technologies? To the security we can provide for ourselves by our own strength? Or to the future, to the things that God has done, is doing, and has yet to do? Are we doing anything so that our spiritual preparation may be adequate enough for us to meet the challenges of the future effectively?